


one day you'll say these words

by marcel



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Pre-Slash, libraries as a vehicle for meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 11:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16217852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marcel/pseuds/marcel
Summary: Shiro has no idea how to navigate the campus library. Luckily, Keith does.





	one day you'll say these words

**Author's Note:**

> hello and welcome to i'm done with rpf forever apparently, and also i watched voltron and now i'm dead. isn't life grand when you're a gay adult. anyway enjoy this short scene in which no one even kisses anyone, whats up with that! 
> 
> this is semi-frankensteined together from new content and bits of a Very Old exo fic that i never crossposted from LJ, so if any part of this seems hauntingly familiar it's because of that (in my defense that fic was something like 14k and Bad). if you, like me, have come not only from LJ to ao3 but also from kpop to voltron and you remember reading that very old bad fic, please @ me and i will send u a postcard, not joking
> 
> special thanks 2 maddie for assuring me i still know how to write, shiro loves u baby

The campus library always seems bigger than Shiro remembers it being. He's pretty sure the last time he was here he could see the far wall, but now it's hidden beyond what looks like one thousand bookcases. The sitting areas and row of computer nooks are mostly full but generally hushed, the held breath of exams creeping steadily closer. Shiro feels stressed just looking at all the students hunched over their books and laptops.

It doesn’t help that he’s used to the science library, on the other end of the campus - that one is bright and airy, never cramped or crowded, with wide windows and comfy chairs and a nook in one corner that Shiro has all but laid permanent claim to. It doesn’t have what he’s looking for, though, so the general students’ library is his only option. He tries his best not to grimace as he gets closer to the fray.

There's a staircase further back, also partially-hidden by shelves, and Shiro starts making his way over, hoping he doesn’t look as out of place as he feels. He’s heard from other people around campus that compared to the main floor full of academic texts and sources to cite, the upper floor is more like a public library, for courses without set reading lists or students that have time to read for the sake of reading. As Shiro gets closer, though, he notes that no one seems to be going anywhere near the stairs except himself. It's just as well, he figures, since the very idea of looking around the ground floor surrounded by high-strung exam preppers makes him a little on edge himself.

He stops at the foot of the staircase and looks up through the winding metal and glass steps. There has to be _something_ up there, he supposes, and so he swallows his vague anxiety and starts to climb.

Something feels different as soon as he reaches the top step, like he’s transported to an entirely separate building. There’s no sound of tapping keys or flipping pages, as if all the noise from downstairs is muffled by the bookshelves surrounding him. They extend out in a semicircle around the top of the staircase, but when Shiro peeks down the aisle between two of them he can only see more rows of books instead of a clear path through to the far wall. He only half-remembers the decimal classification system, but this library seems to be organized more like a maze.

Making himself move away from the stairs, Shiro approaches the closest bookcase and takes a few hesitant steps alongside it. He can't resist the urge to sneak a glance back the way he had come, just in case the shelves had somehow closed and locked him between them. He can still see the staircase though, and so he looks forward again and continues to the edge of the aisle. He’s too distracted by the sheer number of books to do anything other than wander, turning corners whenever he comes to them and reminding himself, now and then, to keep an eye out for familiar titles.

He gets more lost than anything. The book spines along the shelf he’s following suddenly aren’t in a language Shiro can read, and when he glances around, he realizes he has no idea what section he’s ended up in. Not that he knew where he was when he started, he supposes, and turns around to attempt to retrace his steps. He walks a little faster, eager to get out of the rows of books, but in his haste doesn’t notice someone coming around a corner until he turns suddenly and collides with him.

A stack of paperbacks tumbles to the floor as they both startle. Even their muffled clatter against the carpeted floor seems loud in the airy quiet, and Shiro immediately ducks down to help the stranger pick them up.

“Sorry about that,” he says, probably louder than is library-appropriate, fumbling with the laminated covers. None of them look bent or creased, at least, and with half the books gathered haphazardly in his arms, Shiro wobbles to his feet. His obstacle, a boy with long bangs falling into his eyes, stands up at the same time, and Shiro takes a moment to look at him properly.

He's a bit shorter than Shiro, with a sharp jaw and a frown that looks well-used. He shifts the remaining books to the crook of one arm and reaches out to take the rest from Shiro. "It's fine," he sighs, glancing up at him for a moment - the barest glimpse that Shiro gets of his dark eyes has him almost forgetting to let go of the books. “You should just walk a little louder, so people can actually hear you coming.”

“But it’s a library,” Shiro says, brow furrowing. The boy blinks at him a few times, then huffs a laugh.

“We’re probably the only people up here right now,” he tells Shiro, gesturing around. “It’s okay to make a little noise when there’s no one to disturb. It’s not like the books are going to get offended.”

"I guess you're right." Shiro rubs the back of his neck, sheepish. "I don't come here much.”

“Oh, I can tell,” the boy says dryly. “What are you looking for?”

“A book,” Shiro says, and cringes when the boy rolls his eyes at him. He quickly fishes in his pocket for the scrap of paper he had written the title on. “Uh, it’s for a professor. For a history course. About warplanes?”

The boy takes one look and raises his eyebrows. “Well, you’re in the wrong section, for starters. This is one half of science fiction, and over there is European romance.”

Shiro glances around. These shelves of books like pretty much the same as all the other shelves of books that he’s passed. “So how do I get to… whatever section I should be in?”

The boy snickers a little. “Let me go put these away,” he says, gesturing to the paperbacks he’s still holding, “and then I’ll show you.” He starts walking down the aisle, and Shiro hurries after him.

“Do you work here?” he asks after a moment, attempting to speak at normal volume instead of the hushed tone he wants to use.

“Nope.” The boy stops in front of one bookshelf and looks it up and down. “Keith, second year, not even a library science major.” He glances at Shiro. “Yourself?”

Shiro does his best not to stutter on his own name. “I'm not a history student either, I'm in astronomy. Physics.” He catches himself feeling relieved when the other boy - Keith, now - hums in interest, even as he slides one of the books onto the shelf. “So, why are you…?” He trails off, watching Keith put another book next to the first.

“They were out of place,” Keith says with a shrug, taking another couple steps along the shelf before sliding another book in, and continues down the aisle. "And I don't really have anything better to be doing right now." Shiro watches him move, following a few paces behind. He tries not to focus on how Keith purses his lips a little when he’s searching for the correct space on a shelf, or how he slides his fingers down the books’ spines after he pushes them into place.

Soon enough, Keith’s hands are empty and he turns to smile at Shiro. “So, planes, right?” Shiro has barely nodded before Keith starts off towards a different set of bookcases, looking back just once to beckon for Shiro to follow him.

“All the war history books should be somewhere in… this shelf,” Keith says, leading him past a few openings into other shelved aisles and then stopping decisively at the end of one, lined with full bookcases on either side. “You can probably find some biography stuff one row over. It goes by last name.”

“Great,” Shiro says, glancing warily down the aisle at the rows and rows of books before stepping closer and looking up at the bookcase Keith gestures to. “Thank you, I’ll just… yeah.”

Keith smirks at him and leans against the edge of the shelf, crossing his arms. “Why did you get sent on the book hunt, if you don't usually come to the library?”

“I'm a TA,” Shiro explains, looking at each title carefully. “The professor is busy with exam prep, so this is a favor. Usually I just run a discussion block.” Keith nods in understanding, taking a couple steps to follow Shiro as he moves along the shelf.

“There’s something like a hundred people in the lecture, so it’s nice for them to have a space that’s less intimidating, where they can speak up. First years, you know,” Shiro says. “They’re just a little—”

He pauses mid-sentence to frown at the book spines, having gotten to the end of the shelf without finding the book he was looking for. Keith follows his gaze, then backs up a little and pulls a book out of the shelf. Shiro can see the author name he's been scanning for printed on the cover in bold letters, and blinks a few times as Keith starts to flip through the pages. He must have been distracted.

He watches Keith’s fingers, trying to remember where his train of thought was going, barely registering when Keith pauses on one page and looks up at him. “A little what?” he prompts.

“Anxious,” Shiro finally says, and Keith nods again.

“I'm sure they appreciate it. I probably could've used something like that last year,” he muses, handing the book off to Shiro.

"Yeah?" Shiro prompts, watching Keith pause. "Did you have a rough time in lectures, too?"

Keith shrugs, haltingly. "I had a rough time, period." He looks away like he's uncomfortable, but leans on the shelf again instead of backing off. Shiro takes it as a good sign.

"Well, I'm glad you stuck with it anyway," he says, grinning when Keith glances at him again. "Otherwise, no one would be up here to help me out, and I probably would've gotten lost in here forever."

Keith laughs at that, quiet but genuine, and Shiro feels something warm spread through his chest. "It's not _that_ hard to find your way around," he says, rolling his eyes with a smirk. "You found sci-fi earlier, so give yourself some credit."

"That was completely by accident," Shiro insists. "If you left right now, I think I'd die before I found the stairs again."

Shaking his head, Keith pushes off the shelf. "It's easy, I swear. If you spent more time up here, you'd get it."

Shiro sighs playfully, following when Keith starts to head for the end of the row. "I guess I'll have to, then."

"Good." Keith glances over his shoulder with a smile. "Come on, I’ll show you the check-out desk - unless you're looking for anything else?"

“Not really,” Shiro answers honestly, but quickly continues when Keith’s hopeful look threatens to disappear. “But, uh, if you have a suggestion, or something, then maybe…?”

Keith narrows his eyes, but he’s still smiling, and he ducks between the two closest bookcases, only to peek back out after a moment to stare at Shiro. “Come on,” he urges, holding his hand out. Shiro almost moves to take it, but Keith disappears between the shelves again before he can reach. Ignoring the hard thump of his heart, Shiro follows behind him.

It’s nice, trailing after Keith as he leads the way around all the books. He always seems to know exactly where he’s headed, whereas the mere thought of how many wrong turns could possibly be taken is enough to make Shiro a bit dizzy. Their muffled footsteps are the only source of noise, and Shiro wonders if it’s safe to assume they’re the only ones on the top floor. It doesn’t quite feel like they’re in a building on a college campus at all, more like some sort of book-forest, with shelf-branches on every side of them. Like they’re wandering deeper into a wood, away from the sight and sound of everyone else in the world.

Shiro isn’t sure how much time passes - he doesn’t want to check the clock on his phone for fear of seeming rude or impatient, or at all like he wants to be anywhere else than right where he is - but eventually Keith stops, humming at a shelf before sliding a book out and turning around to show Shiro.

“Here. It's a space adventure,” he says, turning the book over in his hands. “It's got aliens, foreign planets, black holes, spaceship battles… Kind of long, but I think you’ll like it.”

“I’m sure I will.” Shiro takes it from him with a smile, glancing at the cover. It isn’t a title or an author he recognizes, but he would be more surprised if Keith handed him something he _had_ heard of before. “Thank you.”

Keith nods, his cheeks a little pink, and Shiro opens his mouth to say something else—

But his phone vibrates loudly in the quiet, making them both jump. Shiro fumbles the device out of his pocket and sighs at the text he's received, an emoji-heavy plea from Allura to come back to the dorm with takeout. He shows it to Keith, who just laughs and beckons for Shiro to follow as he leads the way out of the shelves.

It’s a little weird to see the staircase back down to the ground floor after being immersed in the bookshelf maze for so long, but its right where he left it. Shiro almost feels light-headed as they walk over to the check-out desk next to it. This part, at least, he's sure he can figure out himself, but Keith commandeers the scanner before Shiro can say anything. With a sigh, he decides its best not to argue, and looks around at the rest of the floor while Keith checks out his books.

It’s strange how it doesn’t feel as empty as it should, even though he and Keith are literally the only ones upstairs. Maybe it’s all the books, Shiro supposes, taking up space but still not exactly furniture. He looks back at Keith as the machine beeps and prints out a due date receipt.

“Thank you,” he says quietly, taking the books when Keith holds them out to him and tucking them into his bag.

“No problem,” Keith chirps. “You’ll be back, right? Not just to return those, I mean.”

Shiro spares a brief thought for his nook in the science library, but pushes it away easily. “I think I will, yeah,” he agrees, then pauses. “But, will you be— Uh, will you—"

“I'll be around,” Keith says with a laugh. “I’m in here all the time, it won’t be that hard to find me.”

His bright smile throws Shiro for a moment, and he feels the urge to reach out to him, to touch his jaw or brush his hair out of his eyes. “I’ll see you, then,” he says instead, taking a hesitant step toward the stairs.

“Later,” Keith says with a nod, heading back to the shelves, but Shiro grabs his hand before he can take more than a few steps. He’s not entirely sure why, especially when Keith turns back around to look at him, but his fingers tingle a little where their skin presses together.

“What?” Keith asks, a tiny smile curling his lips. Shiro swallows thickly.

“Just… thank you, again,” he manages. “For the books.”

Keith grins, squeezing his fingers the slightest bit. “No problem.”

Shiro smiles back, letting Keith’s hand slide out of his grip before trying his best not to trip down the stairs on his way out.

By the time he’s back on the sidewalk, he already has half-formed plans to visit the second floor again within the week. He catches himself smiling and makes a valiant effort to focus on heading in the right direction, but he thinks about the pressure on his fingers the whole way home.

**Author's Note:**

> stay tuned for additional, longer voltron fic eventually! also please for the love of god [be my friend](https://twitter.com/kkumayeol)


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